by Cindy Bell
“Don't move!” he barked out. Suzie and Mary looked at each other and braced themselves for a potential gunshot. “Stop!” Jason shouted. They could hear scuffling and groaning from under the house.
Suzie stood near the edge of the entrance. She wondered if she should go inside to help or not. A moment later Jason backed out from under the house, dragging Martin with him. Martin was already handcuffed.
“How did you do that?” Suzie asked, obviously impressed.
Martin was sputtering dirt from his mouth and it looked as if Jason had given him a solid punch to the side of his face.
Jason was out of breath as he held tightly to Martin. It was clear that they had wrestled quite a bit below the house.
“I don't know to be honest,” Jason gasped out. “But it's done.”
“What are you doing!” Martin exclaimed.
“You’re under arrest,” Jason said breathlessly.
“For what?” Martin questioned.
“For murder!” Jason explained.
“But I didn’t do anything,” Martin raised his voice.
“We know that you purchased the shovel,” Jason said. “The murder weapon.”
“So what?” he said with a shrug.
“Well, why would you need a shovel and be snooping around a crime scene?” Jason asked. Martin seemed lost for words as he was contemplating what to say next. His eyes seemed to sparkle as something occurred to him.
“Oh, all right,” Martin said as he sighed. “But, I'm this close to finding a fortune. This can just be between us,” he offered. “I'll share the gold with all of you.”
Suzie, Mary and Jason stared at him in astonishment. He wasn’t just weird he was loony.
“Why did you murder him?” Jason asked trying to get as much information from him before he declined his offer of sharing the gold. Martin seemed to think that they were still going to accept the offer.
“I didn’t mean to,” Martin replied matter-of-factly. “I was looking for the gold, our gold,” he said with a smile. “I accidently damaged the pipe and then when I was looking for it again Doug came down and saw me. He wanted to know what I was doing and when I told him he said he was going to tell the police.”
“So you decided to kill him,” Jason said in astonishment.
“I had no choice. I offered to share it with him but he didn’t want a bar of it,” Martin explained. “I couldn’t let all my hard work be for nothing. I was so close. I am so close.”
“You did a terrible thing, for nothing. There's no gold under that house. There hasn't been gold under there for decades. What was there was either found or moved. You killed someone for nothing,” Jason said in disbelief.
“What?” Martin stammered out. “But I've done my research. I know that it's true. I've looked into it for years.”
“You were wrong,” Suzie said sternly. “And you took the life of a good man because of it.”
Martin fell silent. His glasses were smudged with dirt and had slid down nearly to the tip of his nose. Suzie couldn't feel anything but disgust for a man who would trade someone's life for the potential of riches. Jason led him towards the squad car. Once he had Martin secured in the backseat he pulled out his radio and summoned backup to assist with the gathering of evidence. Suzie and Mary remained beside the house, both settled into a quiet state of shock.
“What could possess a man to desire riches so deeply?” Suzie asked softly.
“When you give your life to something you believe it's the most important thing,” Mary shook her head. “He lost sight of reality, I'd guess.”
Suzie shook her head and drew a deep breath of the salt-laced air. “I just don't understand.”
“We're not supposed to,” Mary said gently and curled her arm around Suzie's shoulders. “Unfortunately, there are things we will never be able to understand.”
“Maybe fortunately,” Suzie pointed out as they ascended the steps onto the porch. “Who wants to be able to understand something like that?”
“I'll make us some tea,” Mary offered. “You sit on the porch, look out over the water, it will help.”
Suzie smiled with gratitude and made her way onto the porch. The opening weekend of Dune House had been hectic, but it was still the most beautiful place to be, according to Suzie. The moment she set eyes on the expanse of blue water before her, she felt the soothing begin. No one could have stopped Doug’s murder. It was horrible, and senseless, and Mary was right, she thought, no one should ever be able to understand something like that.
As she looked out over the water she felt her heart expand. She was instinctively searching for the lights of Paul's boat. He had said he would be patient, but Suzie found herself wondering if that was what she really wanted. Why did she pull herself back from such a supportive and romantic relationship?
“Here you are,” Mary said as she set down a cup of tea in front of Suzie. Suzie picked up the cup as Mary sat down across from her.
“This has been one eventful day,” Mary said softly.
“Yes, it has,” Suzie agreed.
“I'm going to meet Jason at the police station,” Ben said as he stepped out onto the porch. “Do you two need anything before I go?”
“No,” Suzie shook her head.
“Yes,” Mary grinned. “We need to know who Jason's girlfriend is.”
“Oh Mom,” Ben rolled his eyes and then kissed her lightly on the cheek. “I'll see what I can do.”
As he jumped down off the porch Mary and Suzie exchanged a long look.
“It's weird to see him all grown up,” Suzie giggled. “Does that mean we finally have to be grownups?”
“I don't know about you, but I have no interest in any of that,” Mary smiled warmly.
As they talked Jim and Diana stepped up onto the porch.
“Thanks for telling us about Cheney's,” Jim said. “It was delicious.”
“When we mentioned we were staying at Dune House, the owner thought you might like this,” Diana said as she held out a take-home bag.
Suzie tried not to blush. “Well, I do like pasta,” she said with a laugh.
“I noticed the police are no longer here,” Jim said. “Is everything settled?”
“Yes,” Suzie nodded.
“Good,” he smiled and took his wife's hand to lead her inside.
“No need to tell them the whole truth,” Mary said softly. “There's nothing like knowing you were sharing a B & B with a killer to ruin a vacation.”
“Good point,” Suzie nodded. “I'm worn out, I'm going to bed.”
“Good night, Suzie,” Mary gave her a quick hug before sitting back down at the table. “I'm just going to look at the water for a bit longer.”
Suzie studied her for a long moment. She knew that her friend had been through a lot. All of the activity at Dune House had probably made it impossible for her to spend any real time with Ben.
“Are you sure you're okay, Mary?” Suzie asked as she laid a hand lightly on her friend's shoulder.
“Yes, Suzie,” she smiled. “Even with all of this chaos, even with all of the uncertainty of opening a B & B, this is still the happiest I've been. I like the adventure, even if I'm just along for the ride.”
“Well, something tells me this won't be the last adventure we share,” Suzie said with a slightly bitter laugh.
“With the two of us together, you can never predict,” Mary said with a slight smile.
As Suzie walked off to bed she felt herself beginning to relax once more. Dune House was still Dune House, as beautiful and meaningful as it had always been to her.
Chapter Nine
The next morning Suzie awoke with a sense of relief. Something terrible had happened, but at least the killer would be brought to justice. Suzie and Mary said goodbye to the guests who had made it through a dramatic weekend. None looked the worse for wear, other than Martin of course, who was sitting in a jail cell in handcuffs. Diana did still have quite a sunburn but she didn't seem too concern
ed about it. Jim assured Suzie that they would be back for their free weekend sometime soon. Alice slipped out as quickly as possible. Ever since she had been exposed as a spy she had kept her distance.
“The offer still stands for a free weekend, Alice,” Mary said as the woman tried to reach the door without being caught.
“Thanks, but I think next time I want a cold bath, I'll stay local,” she smirked at that and sauntered out the door. Suzie knew that Alice might give them bad reviews. She only hoped that they would have enough customers to combat the negative attention. After everyone was gone, Mary and Suzie collapsed on the large, fluffy couch and sighed at the same time.
“That was wild,” Suzie said with a shake of her head.
“It was more than wild, it was nuts,” Mary clarified.
“I agree,” Suzie nodded. “At least we don't have any more guests until next weekend. That should give us some time to get things straightened up, and to recover from this madness.”
“That's the truth,” Mary agreed and closed her eyes. “Now, I need to take Ben to the airport,” she sighed. “I'm going to miss him.”
“I know you will,” Suzie said. “I hope that he will come again soon.”
“I'm sure he will,” Mary grinned. “I think he liked being so close to the beach.”
“You know, we still haven't found out exactly who Jason is seeing,” Suzie pointed out. “One more mystery to solve.”
“Oh, I don't think it's too much of a mystery,” Mary said with a small smile.
“What do you mean?” Suzie asked.
“I mean I saw the sparkle in his eyes when he looked at Dr. Rose,” Mary explained.
“Dr. Rose? The medical examiner?” Suzie asked with surprise “I never thought of that.”
“Well, apparently he did,” Mary laughed a little. “Ben told me last night that Jason's girlfriend was beautiful, but had a creepy job. I think that confirms it.”
“I guess it does,” Suzie agreed as she tried to picture the two of them together.
“Do you want me to go with you two to the airport?” Suzie offered.
“No, I'm sure you'll be watching the water for a certain boat containing a certain captain,” she smiled.
“Maybe,” Suzie said loftily.
Mary laughed and pushed herself up off the couch. After saying goodbye to Ben, Suzie went about tidying up Dune House.
Suzie was wiping down the kitchen counters with some soft music playing behind her. Her mind had traveled back to her years as an investigative journalist. It had been very exciting to cover stories and to get to know people she never would have met otherwise. However, now she felt as if she was still in the middle of that excitement, but she had Dune House to live in. The walls seemed to breathe secrets as she walked past them.
Dune House had been a source of fascination for locals for many years. Apparently it was also a source of fascination for others. Although the afternoon had been very quiet, she hoped that there would be a visit from Paul soon. She couldn't wait to see his beautiful gray shaded eyes. She still didn't know how to answer his question clearly, but she knew that she had to try. When she heard the front door of Dune House open, a smile began to creep up along her lips.
“Suzie?” Paul's slightly roughened voice called out. Suzie stepped out of the kitchen and met Paul in the dining room.
“Welcome back,” she said smoothly as she looked into his eyes. They were filled with concern.
“I heard about what happened, I'm sorry I couldn't get back faster,” he frowned as he took Suzie's hands in his and held them gently. “Are you okay?”
“I am now,” she replied and kissed him. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too,” he murmured as he let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her waist instead. As he pulled her close to him he looked deeply into her eyes. “I'm sorry if I was pushing too hard.”
“You weren't,” she smiled fondly.
“I'm still patient,” he whispered and kissed her forehead lightly.
“You don't have to be,” she replied and kissed him again.
“So, I'm not a liar?” he asked as they both pulled back from the kiss, a smile playing on his lips.
“No, you're not a liar,” she replied with confidence in her voice. As they kissed again, Suzie felt the last of her resolve fading. Just as Paul coming home to dry land was his safe harbor, being wrapped up in his arms, had become hers.
The End
More Cozy Mysteries by Cindy Bell
Wendy the Wedding Planner Cozy Mysteries
Matrimony, Money and Murder
Chefs, Ceremonies and Crimes
Bekki the Beautician Cozy Mysteries
Hairspray and Homicide
A Dyed Blonde and a Dead Body
Mascara and Murder
Pageant and Poison
Conditioner and a Corpse
Mistletoe, Makeup and Murder
Hairpin, Hair Dryer and Homicide
Blush, a Bride and a Body
Shampoo and a Stiff
Cosmetics, a Cruise and a Killer
Lipstick, a Long Iron and Lifeless
Dune House Cozy Mystery Series
Seaside Secrets
Boats and Bad Guys
Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mysteries
Murdering the Roses
Dead in the Daisies
Killing the Carnations
Drowning the Daffodils
Suffocating the Sunflowers
Books, Bullets and Blooms